harvest

Right now the house is quiet.  Emilia is asleep.  Matthias is reading (although I think he is asleep as well).  It's one of those days today when the weather can't quite decided if it's summer or winter.  That in-between time when the air is warm but the wind blows winter, or visa versa.  It's the type of weather than reminds you that change is about and soon you'll be wrapping yourself up in scarves and wishing for openfires.  The last few nights the thermometer has been etching towards zero and this weekend I decided it was time to call it quits on our summer harvest.  Two beetroots, four potatoes and a couple of green beans.  Not even enough to make a salad! They're tiny too - the beetroot is about the size of my baby finger.  Our pumpkins got eaten by the resident possum, as did the cucumber.  I still have a few tomatoes sitting on the bush but they're not even looking like ripening. I think I'll have to find some green tomato chutney recipe for next weekend.  Oh well, better luck next year I guess.

Christmas Cheer

After a bit of a longer recuperation time than I was planning on having, I'm back up and about and feeling much more in the mood for Christmas.  Remember how I said I was going to make a wreath months and months ago?  Well, this weekend I finally finished it. I attached a few of the glass baubles I bought for my "tree" using bobby pins, added a few red berries and attached it to our apartment door.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I've decided to not go all out on the decorating for Christmas this year.  Matthias doesn't get back to Berlin until we head to Vienna for Christmas and the thought of hauling a tree through the snow and up five flights of stairs just for my enjoyment wasn't that appealing. Instead I've opted for this.

The red berries I picked up from the florist and are sitting in a vase filled with silver baubles. The birds are part of an ever-expanding collection of Christmas Tree decorations that I've slowly been adding to along the way.  I did take a photo of the whole thing, but I totally fudged it so you'll just have to trust me that it looks good.  And that's it! Well, as long as you don't include our statue of Nataraja who, in a spot of cross-cultural celebration, currently has our presents sitting under him.

Four sleeps to go...

Back in Berlin

Back in Berlin after a magical trip home which went far too quickly. I scheduled some posts, let my mobile go flat, turned off my computer and soaked up the Australian sun. No phone calls, no internet, no blogs (!).  I didn't take a photo everyday and I didn't feel guilty. I slept a lot. Played with my nephews, went to the beach and ate yummy food.  We visited the rock and then reluctantly I got back on the plane and came back home. 

I'm only just getting up to date with all the lovely comments everyone wrote over the last month - thank-you to everyone who stopped by, your comments have made the transition back to Berlin a little easier.

More later.

home

Image from weheartit: JeanJeanie

Yesterday I was homesick.  It snuck up on my while I wasn't looking and completely suprised me.  Nearly bowled me over in a shower of tears at a meeting at work.  Not a great look really.  I had to excuse myself to the bathroom, stand in front of the mirror and talk myself out of bursting into tears.  I've never done that before (stand in front of a mirror and talk to myself.).  I felt like I was in a movie. Except I wasn't.

All of a sudden I was overwhelmed by a longing to be back in Australia.  I think it was a picture I saw on someone's blog - that, and an email from home.  I love winter in Australia.  It's almost my favourite time of the year.  The crisp mornings, the dampness under foot, the light that is gentle and kind with a faint glint of warmness.  I miss the colours of Australia - the silver greys, olive greens and muted browns.  When I first visited Europe I can remember thinking of the old european masters "that's why they painted everything so green".  Because it is over here. I miss my friends and my family.  I miss seeing my nephews grow from babies into little boys.  I miss weddings and births and birthday celebrations.  And mostly this doesn't bother me too much because I love Berlin and my life here is great.  But yesterday it did.

But thankfully these days don't last very long and today when I rode my bike to work I looked to my left and saw the TV tower and thought - wow, I'm in Berlin. How cool is that?

Image: weheartit, widescape

I still haven't really found a remedy for homesickness and I don't think talking to your reflection is necessarily the best answer.  I'm interested, what do you do when you miss home?

A Balcony Garden

Our little balcony garden has grown so much since this photo was taken two months ago.  Look at it now.

Basil, sour lettuce, peppermint, rosemary and olives and over in the another corner we have figs and tomatoes.

It's been so exciting watching everything grow over the summer.  We've been picking the rosemary for ages and adding the sour lettuce to salads every now and then, but I hadn't had any of the basil until last week.  Mmmm so good. Never let it be said that you can't grow vegies on a balcony!

Slightly related, although on another scale altogether, here are some photos from one of the most amazing gardens I've visited in a little while. The recovery breakfast for the wedding last week was at Kristine's parents house in a small village outside of Roskilde.  Kristine's mum is the chief gardner and I'm a little jealous of her green thumb.  I spent a good little while wandering around the cottage garden, nibbling on the strawberries and rapsberries and making friends with the little bottle-lamb.

I fear that the lamb is destined for a lovely autumn feast, but at least he gets to enjoy a pampered life for a little while.

my favourite corner

I keep meaning to post some pictures of my apartment but the weather continues to be terrible.  And, given that it is June - June(!) - I keep thinking "next week it'll be sunny", but it just keeps raining and now I have some fresh flowers which are begging to be photographed.  So here is one of my favourite little corners of our apartment. A little kitchen "nook", although even this makes it sound far grander than it actually is.

The little sideboard is, I think, circa 1950s.  It was bought on ebay, and from memory cost around 50 euro, including the shipping.  It stores all our napkins, tablecloths and aluminium foil on one side and oils and vinegars on the other.  

On top is my beloved coffee machine.  I've had this coffee machine for years.  It was temporarily loaned out to a housemate when I was living in the US but is now happily back.  I'm still trying to live a caffeine-free existance, but I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning and this trusty machine makes a coffee equal to most coffee shops around.

The woven bowls are from Uganda and Botswana - handwoven and bought for a crazily cheap price while I was living there last year.  The ceramic bowls are from Morocco and Spain - bought by Matthias while he was at a conference.  Our kitchen doesn't have a lot of storage space - these bowls are also our bread bowls, cake platters, salad bowls etc and get taken down when needed.

And the flowers?  Well, they were a lovely birthday gift from my favourite florist on Marienburgerstrasse.

herb garden

All images from google.

I bought a small pot of Rosemary over the weekend.  I used a couple of sprigs in the risotto I made and it was so, very nice to be able to cut herbs fresh from the plant and put them straight into my cooking.  Currently the pot is sitting on the window sill of the kitchen, but I think it'll soon be joined by a few more friends.  

Our balcony is very bare at the moment, but I'm thinking a tin tub of herbs like the bottom picture would be perfect - there's at least 7-8 different tucked in there and they all look very happy.  I also like the idea of the red coloured pots - our balcony is completely white and definitely could do with some additional colour.  And then perhaps a couple of small plants could stay on the kitchen widow sill as well - with maybe a flower or two to make everything smell nice.

This is Home

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Home inspired by a blog and art project called "This is Home" being done over here. The graphic submissions are in and I thought I'd post a few here. What really struck me by these submissions (aside from their creativity) is that, like me, for many people Home is not a place or destination, but more of an idea and emotion. A feeling that you get when you are surrounded by the love of friends and family.

(by Juliette Crane)

(by Cindy Krikawa)

(by F. Inton)

(by Fiona Binnett)

(by Mariana Swart)

This last submission really struck me. Botswana and Africa are still feel very foreign to me. I am, in general, finding the transition from Boston to Gaborone difficult, and it was somehow nice to be reminded that somewhere in the world there is someone who feels connected to this place and loves it enough to call it home.